In front of Li Wenguang's seat, several of his trusted people gathered.
"What do you think of the Marquis of Jinyue?"
His staff member Chen Wenxian said, "He is just like Han Quanlin, a dissolute and immoral person. The two of them are powerful princes, but they are jealous of a lowly slave and can even cede the city at will. It's really unreasonable."
General Feng Su clasped his fists and said, "That Mo Qiaosheng is not an ordinary slave. From what I have seen on the battlefield, he is highly skilled in martial arts, brave and good at fighting. Not only is he fierce, but he also has a very sharp combat awareness. If we can give him a chance, he will become a great man in the future, and may be able to fight against me."
Li Wenguang nodded: "General, what you said is very true. I also intended to recruit this man. Unfortunately, the Jinyue Marquis was too ruthless in winning people's hearts today. I am afraid that Mo Qiaosheng has already pledged allegiance to him. What a pity."
Fan Yan, who is nearly fifty years old, is Li Wenguang's top strategist. He twisted his graying beard and said, "Jin was originally a small country, but it has been revived a lot under the leadership of the old Marquis of Jin Wei. After the death of Marquis of Jin Wei, there were rumors that the new Marquis of Jin Yue was a shallow and inactive person. Now I know that most of the rumors are untrue."
"Looking at the heroes of today, most of them are mediocre and incompetent like Hua Yuzhi. Although he has a strong army and vast territory, he is still a threat. I personally think that only Lu Song, the Marquis of Beigong in Taiyuan, and Yao Hong, the Duke of Weiheng in Wei, can be compared with you. Now it seems that this young Marquis of Jinyue may become one of your powerful enemies in the future, so you must be on guard against him."
Chen Wenxian said, "We did have spies in the Jin army earlier, but Hua Yuzhi, that idiot, alerted the enemy a few days ago. This led to a massive purge within the Jin army, which accidentally injured our spies. Now there is no one available for the time being."
"The Marquis of Jinyue is still young and his power is not strong enough, let's not talk about him." Li Wenguang picked up a letter, "It is Yao Hong, the Duke of Weiheng. He replied today that he plans to send 10,000 men on ships from Daye Lake, down the Ji River, and arrive in Zhengzhou soon to help us defeat the Quanrong."
Fan Yan said: "Yao Hong is a man of great ambition and good at commanding naval forces. I don't know why he is so late. My lord, don't underestimate him."
…
One day later, the three armies were fully equipped and set out for Zhengzhou one after another.
The war along the way went unexpectedly smoothly, and good news came in frequently.
First, Li Wenguang captured Xinzheng in one fell swoop, and then Cheng Qianye led his troops to capture Kui County.
The three armies advanced triumphantly and their morale was greatly boosted.
On this day, the Jin army was marching along the banks of the Wo River.
The water flow is fast, the road is narrow, and there is a mountain wall on the left, so it is not easy to walk on.
The troops were stretched very long.
Mo Qiaosheng and A Feng walked side by side.
Mo Qiaosheng's eyes kept falling on the figure not far ahead.
Surrounded by guards, the lord wore a golden crown and soft armor, and his mount was the snow-hoofed jujube horse that Mo Qiaosheng had captured.
"It's all spreading in the army now," Ah Feng said softly, "Han Quanlin offered a city in exchange for you, but the Lord doesn't agree?"
Mo Qiaosheng lowered his head slightly, with a gleam in his eyes.
Ah Feng looked at him for a moment and said, "So it's true."
Looking at the figure in front of him, Ah Feng thought silently, it turns out there are still people in this world who are worth looking forward to.
The man suddenly turned around and waved to Mo Qiaosheng.
Mo Qiaosheng's eyes lit up and he rode his horse forward to Cheng Qianye's side.
"Qiaosheng." Cheng Qianye said, "The horse you gave me is very good. It has a good temperament and walks steadily. I have been riding it for such a long time and I am not tired at all. It is much easier to ride than the yellow horse."
Mo Qiaosheng smiled faintly.
"Qiaosheng, you smiled. You seldom smile. You should smile more in the future."
Zhang Fu rushed over from the front, his face solemn, "My lord, General Yu sent a message in front of us, saying that scattered soldiers were found along the way, and they seem to be the remnants of Li Wenguang's army."
"What's going on?" Cheng Qianye frowned.
"According to preliminary inquiries, Li Wenguang was ambushed by Zhengzhou City Guard Wei Mingshan, and suffered heavy casualties. Even General Feng Su was seriously injured."
"That Wei Mingshan didn't defend Zhengzhou, but actually took the initiative to attack and ambush us halfway?"
"Weimingshan is a cruel and cunning man, who loves to take risky tactics." Zhang Fu frowned, "It seems that he might be planning to defeat us one by one."
"My lord, the terrain here is very unfavorable to our army. Please give the order to march at full speed and pass through as soon as possible."
Before he finished speaking, a shout was heard from the top of the mountain on the left, and military flags with the word "嵬" written on them were raised. The ferocious figure of the Quanrong warrior appeared on the top of the mountain.
Suddenly, rocks and rockets rained down.
The Jin army was cut into several sections and fell into chaos in an instant.
In the chaos, Cheng Qianye heard Zhang Fu shouting, "Protect the lord!"
A pair of strong arms lifted her off the horse, held her in a strong chest, and rolled down the river bank.
After a while of dizziness,
Cheng Qianye found himself surrounded by short trees and weeds, with icy river water under his feet and the sound of killing deafening above his head.
A black figure stood in front of her, protecting her tightly under a slightly recessed tree root on the shore.
The person who protected her was Mo Qiaosheng.
Mo Qiaosheng looked up and stared at the battle situation on the embankment.
After a moment, he turned around and lowered his head, took off the golden crown on Cheng Qianye's head, took off his outer coat, and covered Cheng Qianye's soft armor with it.
Then he bent over, carried Cheng Qianye on his back, waded through the icy river water, and ran quickly along the bank against the current.
"Qiaosheng, are you injured? Let me down."
Mo Qiaosheng said nothing and ran away.
From time to time, arrows and debris would narrowly miss their sides.
A soldier in Jin uniform, riddled with arrows, fell into the stream in front of them.
Mo Qiaosheng did not stop, he stepped over the corpse in the water, splashing blood-red water along the way.
Cheng Qianye leaned on his strong shoulder, her eyes seeing the rapidly receding scenery and her ears hearing chaotic shouts. A sharp arrow even grazed her cheek, leaving a shallow scar.
The fear of death for the first time gripped her heart so closely.
Cheng Qianye closed his eyes and heard the pounding heartbeats of himself and Mo Qiaosheng.
I don’t know how long I ran, the roar gradually disappeared, and the surroundings gradually became quiet.
They came to a mountain stream.
Mo Qiaosheng walked up the river step by step on the pebbles.
"Qiao Sheng, put me down." Cheng Qianye said.
The body carrying her suddenly went limp, causing Cheng Qianye to fall to the ground.
Mo Qiaosheng stretched out his hand to support himself on the ground, looked back at Cheng Qianye, gritted his teeth, stood up, took two steps, and finally fell to the ground.
"Qiaosheng!"
Cheng Qianye crawled forward a few steps and helped Mo Qiaosheng up.
Mo Qiaosheng had his eyes closed, his face as pale as paper, and he had been hit by two arrows, but he showed no reaction.
"Qiaosheng, Qiaosheng, wake up." Cheng Qianye stretched out his hand to shake him and found that his hand was covered in blood.
She looked up and saw no one in the empty mountain stream.
Cheng Qianye gritted her teeth and carried Mo Qiaosheng on her back. Mo Qiaosheng was much taller than her and had lost consciousness, so it was difficult to carry him.
She walked step by step on the slippery pebbles by the river. Mo Qiaosheng's hand hung from her shoulder, and blood flowed down her arm and dripped onto the ground.
After finally reaching a sheltered place, Cheng Qianye placed Mo Qiaosheng on the ground and undressed him.
The ferocious iron arrows mercilessly tore through the skin and embedded themselves into the flesh.
Cheng Qianye felt helpless as he didn't know where to start.
"What should I do, Qiao Sheng? What should I do?" She closed her eyes, stretched out her trembling hands, and grasped the arrow shaft.
A large cold hand covered the back of her hand.
"Master, I... can do it myself."
Mo Qiaosheng woke up.
He gritted his teeth, veins popped out on his forehead, and pulled out two arrows in one breath.